


if i just showed up at your party, would you have me, would you want me?

by da_vinky



Category: The Penumbra Podcast
Genre: """peter ransom""", JUNO CALLS RITA HIS FRIEND AND THIS IS IMPORTANT TO ME, Juno Steel is in Love, Kind of an au?, Other, juno steel and the case of his rampant gay panic, juno steel has a thing for hands, peter nureyev/knives, rita's only really mentioned but i love her so she's in there, they're not in space it's really just earth, unnecessary? yes! but consider: i do what i want
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-09
Updated: 2020-10-09
Packaged: 2021-03-08 00:29:03
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,271
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26906641
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/da_vinky/pseuds/da_vinky
Summary: Juno Steel hates parties. This one gets a little better when Peter Ransom shows up.
Relationships: Peter Nureyev/Juno Steel
Comments: 2
Kudos: 33





	if i just showed up at your party, would you have me, would you want me?

**Author's Note:**

> title from betty by taylor swift

Look, I wouldn’t be here if I had the choice. 

I don’t like parties. At all. The lights, the noise, the people… I really only come to these things to drink free booze and maybe recruit a few new clients. No better place to learn about people’s grievances than a party with plenty of alcohol. 

This party wasn’t so bad. At least Rita was going to be here, she wasn’t a fan of these things either, but they often had the latest episodes of her shows playing… Tonight it was ‘ _ GunMan- He’s A Gun, But With A Face On The Muzzle! Bullets Come Out Of His Mouth!’  _

My phone pinged. It was a text from Rita. 

**_HI BOSS!!!!!!!! Can’t make it 2nite, got a teeeeeeeensy tiny case of the flu!!!!!! TEXT ME ABOUT GM-HAGBWAFOTM!BCOOHM!_ **

Shit. She was my only lifeline here… But she was going to kill me if I left now. This was supposed to be the season finale… How she remembered all those letters was beyond me. I sighed, resigned to my evening of watching a horrible drama and live-texting the details to Rita. 

The sofa facing the TV was currently occupied by a pair of boys making out like their lives depended on it. Thankfully, they fell onto the floor, leaving space for me to sit. And… They continued on as per usual. An asteroid could have fallen to earth right then and there and those two boys wouldn’t even notice. 

“Jealous?” Came a smooth voice from beside me. I realized I’d been staring at those boys for way longer than acceptable. 

“Uh- no! They just- fell off the couch. I was making sure they were alright?” I replied, turning to the man beside me to convince him of my innocence. That… was a mistake. He was hot, for lack of a nicer word. From the amused tilt of his lips to his long, nimble-looking fingers… I couldn’t tell whether I wanted to punch him or kiss him. Violently. 

“I’m sure you were. You’re Juno Steel.” He said, offering me a hand to shake. 

“Glad to know my reputation precedes me.” I took his hand. Fuck… He had a nice grip. “And you are?” 

“Unimportant for the moment. What’s a lady like you doing in a place like this?” 

“Wishing he could leave, primarily.” I grumbled, taking another drink just to avoid looking at him. If I had to stay in close proximity to him for another second longer… I might do something drastic. 

“Why don’t you, then?” 

“Promised my friend I’d tell her about the show that’s about to come on.” I nodded at the television. “We don’t get this channel at home, and she’s sick.” 

“How kind of you! I have heard many things about Juno Steel, private eye, but his obvious generosity was not one of them…” He told me, patting my hand. His eyes flashed with… something. Fuck, was he flirting with me? This was flirting, right? I looked around to see if there was anyone that could confirm this for me, but nobody else was paying attention. Goddamn drunk people… 

“Trust me… She’s just got too much dirt on me for me to refuse. Sixteen years is too long to be friends with somebody.” I grumbled. 

“I wouldn’t know. I don’t have many friends, I’m afraid. I… ah, I move around too much. Perhaps I’ll establish a more permanent connection to Hyperion City… Tell me, is it worth it to settle here?” 

I shook my head, snorting. “Not at all. It may look all flashy and chic but we’ve got just as much dirt and grime, if not more, than anywhere else. Whatever made you leave those other places, I’m sure we’ve got it in rampant supply here.” 

“I’m not sure about that. After all, I haven’t met any other dashing detectives thus far.” 

Oh my god. I blushed, looking away quickly. What the hell was wrong with me? I cleared my throat. This was fine. Everything was fine. “Anyways. What brought you here?”

“To the city or to this party, dear?”

“How about both?”

“Well, I’m in the city for… work. I don’t often get sent places as nice as this, so I thought I’d try and get out to see it. I have to admit, I wasn’t technically invited. I saw a post online and just… showed up!” He chuckled, shaking his head. “Nobody really seems to notice… I’ve even collected some unsolicited phone numbers.” 

“Good for you.” I replied, trying not to sound bitter as I took another drink. “What kinda work are you here for? Run of the mill business trip?” 

“You could say that. Actually, it had to do with you. It must be fate that we met tonight, Juno.” 

I nearly spat out my beer. He was looking at me so intensely… “Me? Why?” 

“Why do you think? I have a case for you. I made an appointment for tomorrow…” 

Surprise surprise, I only had one appointment tomorrow. “So you’re Peter Ransom.” 

“Some know me that way, yes.” He smirked. “Pleased to meet you formally, darling.” 

“Uh, yeah. Back at you. Did you want to tell me about the case now, or wait until tomorrow?” 

“Are you… sober enough to hear about it?” 

“What?” I looked down at my drink. “Oh, yeah. This stuff is piss.” I rolled my eyes, setting it down on the coffee table. “Come on, don’t leave me hanging.” 

“I… suppose. Something of mine has been stolen. Something important.” Peter hesitated, a sliver of insecurity peeking through his veneer. 

“Details, Ransom.” I prompted, cocking a brow. He was getting more interesting by the minute… 

“I’m getting there, dear detective, hold your horses.” He told me, taking a deep breath. “It’s a knife. My father gave it to me, before I- Before he passed away. Three days ago, when I first got to the city, it was stolen.”

“Why not go to the police?” 

“It’s a rather delicate topic. And… it might link me to things. Who knows who’s stolen it? I admit to having some rather, ah, unsavory connections.” 

“Oh. I mean, I can’t promise to completely look the other way if anything happens to come up, but I guess I could let… little things slide?” I said, more of a question to myself than a statement. Why was I promising him this? Why did I care so much? Was it just the way his face so clearly fell when he mentioned the knife? Was it that every new thing I learned about him just made me want to know him more? Like why the hell did he bring  _ knives  _ on business trips? I mean, to be fair, so did I, but… I was upfront about my reasons. 

“That’s enough for me. Thank you, Juno, truly. I can’t express how much this means to me.” Ransom is looking at me again in that intense way, his hand on my knee. 

“Uhh… You’re welcome. All in a day’s work?”

“You know… We still have that appointment tomorrow.” 

“Oh, right. You can just cancel it, I won’t charge you the fee.” 

“Or we could discuss the case? Perhaps over lunch?” 

_ Oh.  _ Yeah, this was flirting. And I really,  _ really  _ didn’t mind. “Why wait? We could go back to your hotel and  _ discuss  _ it right now.” I replied, biting my lip slightly. 

“Excellent idea, detective. Shall we?” He grinned, standing and offering me a hand up. 

As we left, the sounds of  _ GunMan _ finally started up. 

Whoops. Oh well. Rita will just have to watch it some other time. 

I have a case to work. 

**Author's Note:**

> today's mood is finding out that juno steel is a confirmed bottom from the penumbra podcast wiki. 
> 
> please leave comments!! even if they're mean!!! please leave mean comments!!!!


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